1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk device and electronic apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a disk device and electronic apparatus, in which a disk can be loaded in a safely protected manner.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
A disk device, disk drive or disk player is loaded with a disk on a turntable. An optical pickup head is shifted to read data from a disk or write data to a disk at a high density. The disk device is externally connected with a notebook personal computer, or is incorporated in the notebook personal computer as an electronic apparatus. As the notebook personal computer is portable, there is a requirement of reducing the size of the disk device for the purpose of size reduction of the entirety of the notebook personal computer.
JP-A 7-130137 (corresponding to JP-B 3003481) discloses a built-in type. A device body of the disk device has such a small size as to correspond to a small disk with a diameter of 8 cm, for the purpose of reducing the size of the disk device. To use the disk device with a large disk with a diameter of 12 cm, the disk is partially protrudes externally from the device body while the disk device or the disk is contained in the personal computer.
JP-A 7-111076 discloses an externally connectable type of the disk device. An upper pickup unit is combined with a lower pickup unit in an openable manner. The lower pickup unit is constituted by a drive shaft for a disk and the optical pickup head. Thus, the disk device has a U shape as viewed laterally as entirety. The lower and upper pickup units have a smaller size than the disk. A disk cartridge including a disk and a cartridge in a quadrilateral shape for containing the disk is used, for example, floppy disk (trade name) of 3.5 inches. The disk is rotated in the disk cartridge, so as to protect difficulties, such as breakage of the disk, injury of a user's fingers and the like.
According to the disk device of JP-A 7-130137 (corresponding to JP-B 3003481), the device body movable into and out of the notebook personal computer has a size smaller than the disk. However, there is a limit in reduction of the size of the notebook personal computer, because a disk must be contained in the notebook personal computer.
Also, a special type of the disk cartridge is required for the disk device of JP-A 7-111076 for the purpose of preventing injury of fingers and breakage of the disk. Disks of a widely available type at present are a type of a cartridge-free structure. The structure of the document cannot be used for this available type of disks.